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Hopefully Tom Ricketts’ caginess this morning was a good sign, as I’d guess …

CBS Chicago just reported that a Wrigley renovation deal is going to be announced today, according to sources of Jay Levine. As you know, the Cubs have been looking for an agreement with the City and the Neighborhood that would allow them to fund – through increased revenue opportunities at the ballpark – a massive $300 million renovation of Wrigley Field. CBS Chicago says an announcement on that front is coming “this afternoon.”

We’ll keep our ears open for the mention of a press conference, as well as a precise time and any methods you might have for listening in. I’ll update you as soon as more is available. A quick guess? The home opener is at 1:20 CT today, so unless the announcement is coming in the next two hours, it seems like to be some time after the game.

Keep hopes and expectations tempered for now. This is just one report. If and when a deal is actually announced, and if it looks like it’s actually good for the Cubs, then we can celebrate.

UPDATE 2 (4:30pm CT): Jay Levine takes it back, and his sources now tell him the finalization is taking “longer than expected,” and the i-dotting and t-crossing is still occurring. You’re used these kinds of updates by now, aren’t you? As you were.

Save it for after the game. That way, if the Cubs win, it’s a lead-in to a bigger celebration. If they lose, it’s a way to soften the blow.

Kyle

“Good for the Cubs” is out the window. They are cannibalizing the revenues that were supposed to be the benefit of this project in order to fund the project itself.

I mean, it’s not *bad* that they are getting to do this. It’s better than not doing it at all. But it’s happening in the lamest way possible short of just dropping payroll to $40m to pay for it.

Brian

The deal can still be the non deal!

gutshot5820

Its happening. Its not happening. Its happening. Its not happening. This is over the top reporting. I’m sure each reporter has news coming out at different times of the day. How about lets wait until something actually happens that is news-worthy before posting another renovation blog? I’m sick of reading about this topic.

How about some more news about the minor league players or the upcoming draft? Every renovation blog is filled with hatred and venom. Let’s lighten up and just enjoy the day and baseball.

http://www.bleachernation.com Brett

Thanks for reading!

In the future, you should know that the decision to read something is largely your own. Hope that helps.

gutshot5820

I get that, but your reporting of the renovation is titled correctly, OBSESSIVE. Three in one day already and it’s not even noon. It’s pretty much obvious that the Cubs are going to get a deal, it’s just a matter of when. This back and forth reporting of minor news related to the deal is exhausting and not interesting anymore. How about more baseball related news?

MichiganGoat

DON’T READ THEM

gutshot5820

I’m reading them because I was expecting an announcement or some big news. Not another link to a possible opinion of an opinion. Yes, I have been reading about the stadium and posting some myself, so what? I enjoy reading the blog. Just saying it’s getting boring and repetitious.

BluBlud

The Headline on this site usually states exactly what you end up reading in article. Maybe you should read the headline before clicking on the article.

gutshot5820

Guys, don’t get your panties in a bunch. I guess no one is allowed to even remotely criticize Brett? Lately, Brett has been reporting and offering up his own opinions on different matters instead of just reporting the news. He should be open to both praise and criticism. I’m on this blog every day reading his news and giving him plenty of page hits, supporting his business. I just offered up my opinion, that the reporting today on the renovation is over the top. If i hurt his feelings because i said that then, he is way more sensitive than i think he should be for a blog writer.

“Lately, Brett has been reporting and offering up his own opinions on different matters instead of just reporting the news. He should be open to both praise and criticism.”

1. Lately?

2. Expect to get blasted when your opinion is “I hate reading about this subject and I wish you wouldn’t report on it.” Doubly so since you are the one in control of what you read and what you comment on.

BluBlud

I am one who will give brett credit in one post and disagree with him completely in another. I am not a Brett Koolaid drinker or a Brett hater, i just enjoy the content of Bleachernation. However, I have never complained that he wrote about an article about a particular subject and then read and comment about the article. If I don’t wanna read the article, I tend not to click on it. That goes for any website.

DarthHater

Dude, you have been consistently posting on this subject and participating in discussions of it on this blog for days, if not longer. It’s understandable that you may now be sick of the topic (so am I), but to try to blame somebody else for publishing stories which you have not only read but have repeatedly posted comments is just utter BS.

TWC

I’m fairly certain the last time this kid got his undies twisted was due to a similar reason (complaining about too much coverage of something he was regularly commenting on). My suggestion to him at the time was to avoid BN if he didn’t like the type of articles Ace was posting. He freaked out, claimed I was telling him to leave, and went onandonandonandonandon about it.

It was then that I realized I was dealing with a seventh grade-level critical thought process, and flipped on the ignore switch.

MichiganGoat

Response will be coming as soon as he is certain many of us aren’t around. Something about picking on him, ignoring the crux of the criticism… you know typical responses in these situations.

Internet Random

I’m pretty sure he is, and was, trolling.

TWC

I think that’s quite clear at this point.

Die hard

The four headless horsemen ride together again to scare the juju bees out of anyone daring enuf to disagree with any of you—- give it a rest or don’t be so obvious….

DarthHater

Did you actually read what the guy was saying that started the whole thread? Oh, never mind, I forgot that “facts” don’t apply to you.

TWC

Dick Tidrow!

DarthHater

And speaking of facts, have you had a chance yet to check the seat of your underwear for any data about the attendance at Wrigley today?

Internet Random

You do know that Die hard is a troll, right?

MichiganGoat

Hey we now have a nickname – Awesome Sauce

Internet Random

Wait. Who are the four?

MichiganGoat

A goat, a hippie, a Sith Lord, and you I’m guessing

DarthHater

I call dibs on “Pestilence!”

DarthHater

Hey, goat. I do believe he just associated you with a horse. You’re not gonna take that lying down, are you?

DarthHater

Now that I think about it, “The Four Horsemen” is pretty unoriginal. I think we should be “The Four Goatmen!”

MichiganGoat

I always wanted a posse

Internet Random

Huh. Okay.

Dale’s Ear

I think it fits, you guys are scary with all your facts, and data, and fancy statistics. My beliefs and opinions should not be bullied and oppressed by other people simply because they can prove them wrong with intelligent information, It’s my right as an American! (footnote: try to read this using a southern accent, I feel like it adds more gusto )

Internet Random

I think you’re confusing me with Kyle or Doc. I don’t frequently post a lot of stats.

Also, since I speak with a mild-to-moderate Southern accent, I read all comments that way by default… and it adds more gusto to all of them.

Dale’s Ear

I would never confuse Doc or Kyle with anyone, well except for that other Kyle, but nah I was mostly just messing with Die Hard because I think that his dislike for the guys that argue with him is funny.

Internet Random

“I would never confuse Doc or Kyle with anyone . . . .”

I sometimes confuse Doc with Cliff Clavin.

Dale’s Ear

hahaha I bet he’s got that same killer mustache

hansman1982

It’s how Brett operates. When there is big news in the Cubs world (yes, this is big news) he reports on ANYTHING that impacts that.

Understandably, some folks may tire of reading about “XYZ” (and I’m sure Brett tires of reporting some things) but the news is the news.

http://www.bleachernation.com Brett

“Three in one day already and it’s not even noon.”

Today is literally the day the deal has been expected. Literally. Multiple posts today was an inevitability. Obsessive is obsessive, and I’m not really going to apologize for how I’ve covered this story.

Tip: If it says Obsessive and doesn’t say “Deal Officially Done Forever and Eternity,” don’t click on the story. It’ll just piss you off.

gutshot5820

That’s petty of you Brett, A nice f..k You to your customer, whatever. Coming from a guy who acts as if he is operating the blog for charity. You have no less than 12 ads going on on your page at a time. I dare anyone to find a sports website that survives entirely on reporting other people’s news with 12 ads going on each page.

gutshot5820…you said, “reporting other people’s news with 12 ads going on each page.”

What’s your issue? Did you write that news, or something?

MoneyBoy

Brett’s job is to report what’s going on … and it’s clear that there’s a lot of activity, so much so that Ricketts CAN NOT comment on the actual substance … which, to me, is the best news so far.
Brett can only give us what’s put out there … and while it may be considered “obsessive,” it’s thorough and objective. When he gives us his opinion, he tells us that he is doing so!!
Monday was touted (by all the parties) as *the* day. So what’s Brett to do? Just exactly what he is doing … giving us updates as they’re made available.
No one has held a gun to your head and forced you to read.

I think you’re missing a bit of what Brett does and Brett doesn’t do. I do not mean to belittle Brett at all by saying this because he’s the best Cubs blogger I’ve seen (and I contribute to another Cubs blog), but I’d describe the two roles Brett provides in the vast majority of his posts as (1) aggregating all the Cubs info around all forms of media; and (2) providing meaningful, thoughtful analysis on it.

So he’s not going to make stuff up. He’s not going to provide his slant on what prospects are doing aside from reporting what others are saying and providing some analysis on that, and I think there are two reasons for that. First, he’s handed that role off to Luke. But outside of that, Brett doesn’t claim or pretend to be a scout.

Do you know how awesome it is to have a site I can check a few times a day and know that I will find EVERYTHING Cubs related in something like 4-8 posts?

In other words, what Brett reports is just largely based on what is going on and what is being reported. If someone got injured and, say, Logan Watkins got called up, you’d have a post with everything we know about Logan Watkins. But what’s being reported now is Wrigley renovation news, so Brett is bringing that to us.

Obsessive Wrigley Watcher

Really dude…the title told you exactly what to expect from this posting, yet you click it anyway and then complain when you find its content matched the title??? I for one am interested in each one of the postings as the future strength of the Cubs team is heavily reliant on which way this thing goes. Now I know to keep my eyes and ears open for the announcement today…or not.

MichiganGoat

Really I thought we were contractually obligated to read your over reporting or else we’d be sent to the cat pajama labor camps.
[img]http://ct.fra.bz/ol/fz/sw/i60/5/7/23/frabz-Youd-be-the-cats-pajamas-if-You-would-shut-the-hell-up-af487d.jpg[/img]

This is more than an Obsession, this is more like creepy stalking at this point. Yes, no, maybe, yes, no, yes. It’s kind of like the weather in Chicago, if you don’t like where this story is going wait five minutes and it’ll change.

Keep up the hard work Brett, you earned a gold star for keeping us up to date on all this insanity.

Rich

Yes…Brett….you are the man…love the updates..on the site and twitter..
sadly..I must get off the grid as I am working til 6, then baseball practice..
so…I will be DVRing this and watch about 8 tonight….

Bob Nightengale

An agreement has been reached, pending approval by Ryan Dempster and Carlos Marmol.

MichiganGoat

+1

BluBlud

Approval is expected only if they each get to keep the IPad and the Laptop.

Windy City Misfit

What? .. No mention of the boombox ..

hansman1982

The boombox is going to the rooftops but Tom is keeping the cassette recorder. They make the best mixed tapes.

Fastball

the updates are fine/nice. I will be glad when it is over so I don’t have to read about anymore. I read everything and this is a topic I don’t want to read about going forward unless it is an update on groundbreaking or pictures of the construction. Maybe Ricketts will just publish the Project Plan with all the milestones etc. We can look at it and get updates on hit’s and misses.

I would love to hear about Garza gaining 2 mph on his fastball over last year. Soler is ready to be promoted to AAA and then get a July call up. Baez moves to 3b and is going to be called up in July as well. Almora will be starting in CF in 3 months. God knows this lineup we have can’t produce runs. There have been a few highlights. Heaven forbid we get a base hit with a runner in scoring position.

wax_eagle

I was listening to Mike and Mike this morning, but had to go in to work before Theo came on. did he say anything of substance?

Matt G (not garza)

Not really, nothing about renovation at all. Just mainly the same stuff we have heard before, getting guys in their prime years, building the right way etc.

Josh

They must have brought in Carlos Marmol to close the deal

cubzfan23

Lmao… Nice.

Dustin S

Now that was funny. Glad to see some humor, the rough start seems to have a few people grumpy.

As others said, if it’s a topic I’m less interested in I just skim it rather than delving into it. Soriano trade rumors eventually creeped into that category for me. I appreciate the updates, the outcome of the deal like more night games and increased revenue will directly and indirectly impact play on the field, so they are important and pertinent.

Josh

Ha you just made me cry from laughing

FarmerTanColin

Anibal Sanchez…Dan Haren….Ryan Dempster ALL OVER AGAIN AHHHHH!

BluBlud

Completely off the subject. Why does CubsDOTcom have Vogelbach’s ETA as 2014 and Soler’s ETA as 2015. Just curious. Shouldn’t that be reversed.

hansman1982

Either:

1) You write for cubs.com
2) You spammed them with enough emails they changed it
3) They finally see your wisdom.
4) THE DH IS COMING TO THE NL NEXT YEAR!!!!!!
5) All of the above and then some.

BluBlud

No, I definitely think Soler is better then Vogelbach. Soler is the 2nd part of the big 3 behind Baez. I think Vogelbach is the third part of the big 3. If Vogelbach is turn into a DH, he would instantly go from one of my favorite players, to one that I would not respect very much.

Wow, we got a “panties in a bunch” comment and a “grow a pair of balls” comment on the same day! Looks like somebody is really getting a lot of use out of their new copy of Trolling for Morons.

Josh

Brett why is everyone so sassy today?

MXB

we are approaching a ‘no moon’ phase.

dash

I, too, am tired of clicking on this site only to find, like, a million articles on the Cubs. Could you please write about something else for a while?

http://www.bleachernation.com Brett

Don’t tempt me to start writing about my television-viewing proclivities … I won’t be able to stop.

Josh

You should start thinking about expanding into Europe
Start writing about how the MLS is better than the English premiere league
GO TIMBERS RCTID

hansman1982

Lord knows your forays into writing about non-Cubs things sucks and is full of discussions about Jazzercise.

STH Section 514 Row 3

Brett, keep up the frequent updates. As a true Cubs fan I check this site hourly for any renovation rumblings. Full Support!

miggy80

Wait what happened? I need one of those google reader things that T-DUB is always talking about.

http://Bleachernation.com someday…2015?

I’m guessing they will wait till after the home opener today to announce the deal.

Curt

only the cubs could make a stadium renovation obsessive its. a three ring circus and myb, hopefully, someday this will get done so we can all obsess about actual baseball. and as far as gunshot. Lighten up Francis , if you don’t like it don’t read it, it’d not that hard man.

Just landed at JFK and checked into BN to see if there was an “Obsessive Wrigley Update.” So, I appreciate the regular updates. One thing to always remember: You can never satisfy everyone. Even Winston Churchill was voted out of office 30 days after VE-Day. Keep the updates coming.

The Daily Herald went all out in today’s paper. Count’em four (4) articles all on the mess call the Wrigley Field renovation negotiations. From Constable waxing nostalgically about Wrigley and getting varying fan opinions about the proposed renovations to Rozner calling the Rahm and Tunney clowns and saying Ricketts should get off his knees to Imrem suggesting that the Tribune Company should have torn down the rooftop buildings and replaced them with parking garages to Miles quoting Ricketts “It’s awkward, but we’ll make out OK” with respect to the agreement with the rooftops

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